So much to read and learn, and so little time. Thanks in no small measure to the energy that Ron Paul’s candidacy unleashed, more people than ever are eager to cut through the propaganda and uncover the truth. But where to start? And how can you get the most out of the time you have to devote to reading and study?

Can we read our way to freedom? No, but we cannot be effective activists in the Ron Paul tradition unless we know some economics and history, and the various depredations, foreign and domestic, of the regime.

Economics

These three books, all relatively short and available online or for purchase, are an excellent starting point for an education in sound economics.

This course with Professor Joseph Salerno of Pace University, courtesy of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, is available in both video and mp3 audio at the link above. (Suggested readings to accompany the lectures are listed here.) To learn more about the Austrian School of economics, read this essay and this essay.

Advanced Texts in Austrian Economics

Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles by Murray N. Rothbard The Scholars’ Edition of this book, which we link to, also contains the book Power and Market, which had originally been intended as the concluding section of Man, Economy, and State but was released in 1970 as a separate book. The entire text is also available online here. A study guide is available for purchase and online here (.pdf). Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises This entire book is available online here. A study guide to this book is still being compiled; the chapters that have been finished so far are available online here. Money, Banking, and Economic Cycles by Jess Huerta de Soto A sweeping and historic contribution to the literature of the Austrian School, showing how monetary freedom avoids the disadvantages of fiat money, including inflation, business cycles, and financial bubbles.

What makes the economy experience periodic booms and busts? Contrary to what Karl Marx claimed, these are not an inevitable feature of a market economy. Economist F.A. Hayek won the Nobel Prize in economics for showing how central banking (the Federal Reserve System in the American case) and its manipulation of the interest rate initiates unsustainable booms that lead inevitably to a bust. This is known as the Austrian theory of the business (or trade) cycle, and it’s the subject of this section.

Because the possibility of “deflation” is so often raised as an objection to a commodity standard, we include a separate section of articles and lectures refuting this specific claim. Much of the material in this section is for the advanced student. Articles:

Scott Horton’s Antiwar Radio has featured some of the most important intellectuals, journalists, and political figures of our day, and its archive is a treasure trove of knowledge. Scott suggests the following as some of his best and most informative interviews. Access his full archive, subscribe to his podcast, and listen live from 12:00pm—2:00pm Eastern.